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GeneralChi Haotian
迟浩田 Chih Hao-tien
Chi in 2000
Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission
In office Party Commission: 28 September 1995 – 15 November 2002 State Commission: 28 March 1993 – 5 March 2003Serving with Liu Huaqing, Zhang Zhen, Zhang Wannian and Hu Jintao
Chairman	Jiang Zemin
State Councilor of China
In office 29 March 1993 – 17 March 2003
Premier	Li Peng Zhu Rongji
8th Minister of National Defense
In office 29 March 1993 – 17 March 2003
Premier	Li Peng Zhu Rongji
Preceded by	Qin Jiwei
Succeeded by	Cao Gangchuan
Head of the General Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army
In office 28 November 1987 – 28 October 1992
Preceded by	Yang Dezhi
Succeeded by	Zhang Wannian
Personal details
Born	(1929-07-09) 9 July 1929 (age 95) Zhaoyuan, Shandong, Republic of China
Political party	Chinese Communist Party
Military service
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Branch/service	PLA Ground Force
Years of service	1944–2003
Rank	General
Battles/wars	Chinese Civil War Korean War
Awards	Order of Liberation (3rd Class; 1955)

Chi Haotian (simplified Chinese: 迟浩田; traditional Chinese: 遲浩田; pinyin: Chí Hàotián; born 9 July 1929), also spelled as Chih Hao-tien, is a retired general of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. He served as Minister of National Defense from 1993 to 2003.

Early life

Chi was born 9 July 1929 in Zhaoyuan, Shandong, Republic of China. In October 1946 he joined the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Military career

Chi was recruited to the army in July 1945, and graduated from the synthesis department of Military Academy of PLA. During the Korean War, he served as the battalion instructor and deputy director of a regimental political department within the 27th Corps of the People's Volunteer Army in North Korea. For his valor during the war, he received a "Class-One" commendation.

In 1973, he became the vice political commissar of Beijing Military Region, and vice editor in chief of a prominent newspaper "People's Daily". In 1976, in the aftermath of the earthquake in Tangshan, Chi was appointed as deputy commander of the Tangshan Earthquake Relief Headquarters, overseeing the People Liberation Army's aid to the victims of the earthquake. He later became vice director of the general staff department of PLA and the director of political department under it, the political commissar of Jinan Military Region, and the head of the general staff department of PLA as well as the secretary of CCP's committee there. He was elected as a member of Central Military Commission (CMC) in 1988.

In May and June 1989, Chi played an important role in directing the military's enforcement of martial law in Beijing to suppress the Tiananmen Square Protests in the national capital. As chief of staff he instructed the commanding officers of the Beijing, Shenyang, and Jinan Military Districts to "finalize the name list of every group army division scheduled to advance into Beijing and their exact times of departure and arrival, as well as details regarding primary duties", according to the "Daily report" (Meiri yibao) from the Central Military Commission Office, dated 19 May 1989. This military buildup resulted in the massacre, which took place on 4 June that year.

In 1993 Chi became a state councilor and the Minister of National Defense until 2003. He was also the director of the Law of National Defense Draft Commission. He was elected to be vice chairman of the central military commission of the CCP in September 1995, and CMC of the state in December that year. On 19 October 1999, after meeting with Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass in Damascus, Syria, to discuss expanding military ties between China and Syria, Chi then flew directly to Israel and met with Ehud Barak, the then prime minister and Defense Minister of Israel where they discussed military relations. Among the military arrangements, was a 1 billion dollar Israeli Russian sale of military aircraft to China, which were to be jointly produced by Russia and Israel.

He was elected as a member of CCP's 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th Central Committee's, and a Politburo member at 15th National Congress. He was awarded First-class honor in 1952, and Third-Class Liberation medal in 1985. He was made general in 1988. Chi was reportedly one of three party elders who reprimanded CMC Chairman Xi Jinping at the Beidaihe meeting in 2023.

Personal life

Chi was married to Jiang Qingping, who worked as a nurse at a People's Liberation Army hospital, in 1956. The couple had a son and daughter. Jiang died on 4 June 2023, at the age of 90. Chi's son Chi Xingbei is a major general in the People's Liberation Army who previously served as the political commissar of the army logistics department.

References

1. ^ Mulvenon, James. "Chi Haotian: A Political Biography" (PDF). China Leadership Monitor, No.1 Part 2 (Hoover Institution). Retrieved 11 October 2023.
2. "Sino-North Korean Military Relations: Comrades-in-Arms Forever?". The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security. 17 June 2004. Retrieved 11 October 2023.
3. "China defense minister visits Israel". Archived 30 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine World Tribune. Thursday, 21 October 1999
4. Nakazawa, Katsuji (21 September 2023). "Analysis: Military elder put silent pressure on Xi at Beidaihe". Nikkei Asia.
5. Yue, Huairang (5 June 2023). "离休干部、迟浩田上将夫人姜青萍逝世，享年90岁". The Paper. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
6. Yue, Huairang (12 September 2018). "冷少杰少将出任陆军后勤部政委，迟星北少将不再担任". The Paper. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

External links

• Chinatoday biography
• Chi Haotian at China Vitae

• 1929 births
• Living people
• Ministers of national defense of the People's Republic of China
• People's Liberation Army generals from Shandong
• Politicians from Yantai
• Chinese Communist Party politicians from Shandong
• People's Republic of China politicians from Shandong
• People's Liberation Army Chiefs of General Staff
• State councillors of China
• Members of the 12th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 13th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 14th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party
• Members of the 15th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party
• Delegates to the 2nd National People's Congress
• Delegates to the 3rd National People's Congress
• Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress
• Delegates to the 8th National People's Congress
• Delegates to the 9th National People's Congress
• 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
• Chinese military personnel of the Korean War